Work Text:
“A bolt of lightning from the hand of an angel, perhaps, might burn away what was evil in Valentine’s son and either break their tie or cause it to become more benevolent in nature.”
Azazel’s words echoed in Simon’s mind as he hurried across the field of dark Nephilim. A pain gripped his heart as he thought of his friends behind him, fighting for their lives, with nothing he could do to help directly. He just had to find Sebastian, and Raziel’s bolt would soon come.
Simon noticed Clary, and Jace behind her, still controlled by Sebastian, and the man himself behind the line of dark Shadowhunters. And then Clary was hurling toward him. “Simon!” she cried out.
And as Jace arrived, a crack sounded through the sky. A bolt of lightning hurled down and struck Jace. The boy screamed in pain, falling to his knees. Clary immediately reached toward him, but Simon grabbed her wrist and held her back. “He’ll be okay,” he murmured, but a cold dread settled into the pit of his stomach. What if he wasn’t okay?
Behind the line of red-clad Nephilim, Sebastian screamed, as an identical bolt struck him as well.
Then it was over. The dark Nephilim collapsed, all unconscious but still breathing. Simon let out a small breath. Good, they were still alive. He looked at Clary, and their gazes met for a brief moment before they traveled to Jace.
The golden haired boy lay on the ground, unconscious like the rest of Sebastian’s soldiers. Clary began to move toward him, but a hoarse cry of “JACE!” stopped her in her tracks. His parabatai, Alec, rushed past them and leaned down at his side. “He’s alive, right? He’s okay?”
“He should be,” Simon said, since he was probably the expert on angel bolts here.
“He’s bleeding,” Alec said, panicked, pulling up Jace’s shirt and drawing a quick iratze. The wound began to heal.
Maryse strode past them, heading towards the unconscious body of Sebastian. Simon decided to trust her with the arresting process. Isabelle soon appeared at Simon’s side, and he held her hand tightly.
When she sucked in a sharp breath, Simon quickly turned to her, but she was staring at Jace. Simon’s gaze switched to him, and his eyes widened with astonishment.
“What…?” Clary breathed out.
On Jace’s chest, instead of the rune that had bound him to Sebastian, lay a second parabatai rune.
“This should be impossible!” Alec’s voice was rising. “What- what’s happening?” He got up and whipped towards Simon, who immediately wished he wasn’t the angel bolt expert.
Simon quickly unclasped Isabelle’s hand before her brother could notice they were ever together in the first place. “I-I’m not sure,” he stammered. “I…” Azazel’s words echoed through his mind once more, and his eyes widened further. “Oh,” he breathed out. “The bolt from Raziel, it… it changed their bond. Changed it to something more benevolent. And the twinning rune was essentially…”
“A demonic parabatai rune.” The voice came from Magnus, who had appeared at Alec’s side. He rested a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “So a more benevolent bond would essentially be the parabatai rune. I suspected this might happen when Silas first told us about the angel bolt, but…”
“My name is Simon,” Simon muttered.
“...I didn’t expect it to actually happen. I thought that Jace’s bond with Alec would prevent it,” Magnus continued. “Now that it has happened, though…”
“You’re telling me,” Alec whispered. “That Jace is still bound to Sebastian, just in a different way?”
“Essentially, yes,” Magnus admitted. “We need to get to Sebastian, check if he has the rune too.”
“I’ll go,” Isabelle said, and rushed off toward her mom. Alec moved only to crouch beside Jace again. He gently moved a strand of his parabatai’s hair away from his face. Magnus murmured something comforting to him.
“He’s going to be alright though, right?” Clary whispered.
Simon nodded. “I think… I think he will be.”
When Jace woke up, Alec was at his bedside. His parabatai broke into a grin as he saw Jace sit up. “You’re alright!”
Jace smiled a little. “I am.” There was a confusing mix of emotions coming in from Jace’s parabatai bond. The happiness and worry that he expected, but also a sort of… muteness. Almost pain. Jace furrowed his eyebrows, struggling to understand. “Alec, are you hurt anywhere?”
Confusion appeared on Alec’s face. “No, why?”
“The parabatai bond…” Jace started, then trailed off at the look of horror on Alec’s face. “Alec, what is it?”
Alec glanced away. “Look,” he murmured, “at the place where the twinning rune was.”
Slowly, Jace pulled up his shirt and looked at his chest. A parabatai rune glowed at the former location of the twinning rune. “Ah, uh, the rune moved?” he guessed weakly, even though he doubted it was the correct answer. Alec slowly shook his head, and Jace took another look at himself.
His parabatai rune, the one he had gotten with Alec all those years ago, was still there.
“Why…” Jace started, then trailed off. Why do I have two parabatai runes? he had wanted to ask, but he already knew the answer.
“Sebastian,” Jace hissed out, violently pulling down his shirt. “I’m still connected with Sebastian.”
Alec sighed. “Yeah. The Clave is going to meet about it, see what they’re going to do. Under normal circumstances, they’d just lock him in the Gard or the Silent City, but this has never happened before… having two parabatai runes.” He tried for a smile. “But at least you’re under control of your own actions now.”
“At least there’s that,” Jace agreed. He lay down in the bed again and stared up at the ceiling. “But this is still going to suck,” he added, trying for a light tone.
“I guess it will,” murmured Alec, who was not fooled by Jace’s tone.
Jace thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you… feel him too? Sebastian?”
Alec shrugged. “A little, I think. He’s not my parabatai, he’s just yours.” The words came out like acid. “I think I’m feeling a bit of his emotions through our bond together, I guess? And he probably feels yours as well.”
“Fun,” Jace murmured. “Where is he right now?”
“In the Sanctuary,” Alec admitted. “We’ve locked him up inside right now. The Council is coming here to determine his fate.”
“When?”
Alec’s gaze met Jace’s steadily. “Tomorrow.”
Sebastian had been in the New York Institute’s Sanctuary for a few days now. Occasionally, a resident at the Institute would bring him food, but it was never someone he knew. He knew that the next day, he would be on trial by the Clave. He also knew that he was likely to receive the death sentence, or something similar, at the very least.
And he knew that where the twinning rune once binding him to Jace had been was now a parabatai rune. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant.
During these few days, Sebastian had refused to show his emotions to anyone and even to himself. His plan failed, he was held prisoner by the New York Institute, and he knew there was no chance of escaping. He tried, he failed. And there was this strange sense of guilt… So now, he would just await his fate.
At some point, a rush of emotions flooded through Sebastian, so intense that it startled him. It took him a moment to realize that they were coming from his parabatai bond. Scowling, he clenched his hand into a fist and kept his gaze fixed forward.
An hour later, Clary walked in. Sebastian’s gaze flicked towards his sister, interest inside him. “You came to see me?” He questioned, amused.
“I did,” Clary said. She stopped walking, closing the Sanctuary doors behind her, then leaning against them, unwilling to get closer. Sebastian understood why. “I just came to tell you that Jace is awake.”
“And I should care, because…?” Sebastian drawled, his eyes lazily half-shut.
“Well…” Her hands clenched into fists. “Alright, sure, you don’t think of him as your parabatai, but you lived with him for a while. Even if it was a fake Jace, it was still kind of Jace, and I thought maybe you…” She bit her lip. “Maybe you cared, a little.”
And Sebastian had to admit to himself that he did. “Alright then. I’d tell you to give him my regards, but he probably hates me now.” He vaguely remembered Jace telling him that he did hate him, so it wasn’t exactly a “probably,” but Sebastian refused to be a Debbie Downer in front of his sister.
“Alright,” Clary muttered. She prepared to exit, and then pause. “The pain of losing a parabatai,” she started, slowly. “I know that it’s supposed to hurt. A lot. And even though you and Jace aren’t exactly parabatai, I guess… you’re still connected to each other as if you were. It’s going to hurt him.”
“Necessary sacrifices to get rid of evil,” Sebastian said simply. “Don’t you get it, little sister? Jace would be willing to go through anything to get rid of me.”
Clary sighed softly. Once again, her hand tensed on the handle of the door, as if preparing to open it, but Sebastian spoke before she could do so.
“Did you ever really think that I could be anything other than a demon?” He asked quietly.
Clary looked back at him. “Sebastian,” she murmured. “They don’t have mirrors here, do they?”
Sebastian shook his head, a bit of confusion inside him.
Clary turned on her phone’s camera and put it in selfie mode before giving it to Sebastian. He stared at his reflection in confusion, not quite realizing what Clary wanted him to see, before suddenly realizing what it was.
“My eyes…” he started slowly.
“They’re green,” Clary confirmed softly. She held her hand out, and Sebastian slowly gave her the phone back. “Raziel’s bolt… I think it wiped out your demon blood.”
“So I…” he paused, then continued. “So I’m like you now?”
“Well, I have extra angel blood,” she pointed out. “I don’t know if you do. And I don’t know if the Sebastian with demon blood could have become good. But you? This is your chance, if you survive tomorrow.” She headed back toward the door. “Bye, Sebastian.” She paused. “Or would you prefer Jonathan…?”
Sebastian shook his head, still numb with shock. “No, I… I think I’ll stick with Sebastian. Jonathan was never my name.” It was always Jace’s.
Clary seemed a bit confused by his declaration, but didn’t ask him to elaborate. “Okay, Sebastian,” she said, and then she left.
Sebastian collapsed on the floor. He closed his eyes and let out a breath.
He finally knew where all the guilt was coming from.
Jace entered the trial room. Alec stood behind him, protecting him as he always did, as he hadn’t been able to do when Jace was under Sebastian’s thrall. Taking his seat, he felt Alec sit on one side and Clary on the other. Isabelle sat beside Alec. A part of Jace wished that Simon could have come as well, but vampires weren’t able to enter the Institute. And besides, Jace would never admit that he wanted Simon around.
Jia Penhallow, the Consul, was already on the dais. Jace had seen the council hall in Idris before and knew that it was much fancier than the one here, but it didn’t matter. It was too risky to transport Sebastian to Idris, he had been told, so they had to make use of the smaller council room in the New York Institute.
Robert Lightwood, the new Inquisitor, entered the room and stepped onto the dais. In his hands he held the Mortal Sword. Jace felt Alec tense beside him as he saw his father. He’s never coming back to run the New York Institute anymore, Jace thought numbly. He’s Inquisitor now. Jace never had a good past with Inquisitors, he had to admit. Imogen Herondale had locked him up in the Silent City and later in a Malachi Configuration, all because his father was supposedly Valentine. She later turned out to be his grandmother, but it didn’t make Jace like her any more. And Inquisitor Aldertree had locked Simon up in prison for the sole purpose of convincing everyone that the Lightwoods and Jace were evil and working with Valentine. But Jace knew Robert well. He would be a good Inquisitor.
But, as Sebastian entered the room, Jace knew he would also be a biased one.
“Max,” Clary whispered from beside him. “Sebastian killed Max, so…”
Jace nodded. He had already thought of that. “It’s likely that Sebastian will die.”
Clary said nothing to that.
“He deserves it,” Alec muttered, but he didn’t sound too convinced. Jace briefly wondered why, until he saw Alec’s eyes rest on the spot on Jace’s chest where his new parabatai rune lay.
He doesn’t want me to get hurt, and Sebastian dying would most certainly hurt me.
Jace wanted to agree with Alec, say that Sebastian deserved death, but then Sebastian glanced up at Jace and their eyes locked.
Jace’s breath was stolen away. Sebastian’s eyes were green.
As Sebastian looked away again, Jace whipped toward Clary. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “You saw him yesterday-”
Clary looked startled. “I didn’t think you’d care, Jace.”
Jace wanted to say that of course he would care, but then he realized that he understood exactly why Clary thought he wouldn’t. He took a few deep breaths and shook his head. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “Just… Is he any different?”
“He’s still Sebastian,” Clary said slowly. “I only saw him once, I don’t know if anything else is different.”
Already, people in the room seemed to be talking about Sebastian’s green eyes. They knew what it meant. Sebastian Morgenstern was no longer demon-blooded.
Sebastian stepped up to the dais. Jia Penhallow called for attention, and the room fell silent.
Robert handed Sebastian the Mortal Sword. He took it.
“This is the trial of Sebastian Morgenstern,” Jia began, “to determine what his fate shall be. The new Inquisitor, Robert Lightwood, will ask him questions, and he will answer truthfully.”
“How do we know the sword will work on him?” a voice called.
“He no longer has demon blood,” Jia stated.
The whispers came across the room again.
Alec narrowed his eyes. “Is he expecting to get special treatment because he doesn’t have demon blood anymore?”
“He killed Max,” Isabelle murmured. “We can’t forget that.”
“Before we begin,” Sebastian spoke up, quieting everyone in the room. They were all surprised, not having expected him to speak without being asked. “I hear some of you say that I should be given mercy, as I no longer have demon blood.” His gaze traveled across the room. “But I am still the same person. I am still Sebastian Morgenstern. The only changes I have noticed so far are a feeling of guilt and my eye color, and neither of those things mean that I would have made different decisions had I not have had demon blood.” He looked at Jia and Robert. “Try me as if I still did have that demon blood. That is my request.”
“It was what I was planning to do in the first place,” Robert said. His eyes narrowed. “You killed Max.”
“It was not my intention,” Sebastian said smoothly, and Jace jolted as he realized that Sebastian was holding the Mortal Sword. Every word he spoke was the truth. And the guilt coming through the parabatai bond… “I only wanted to knock him out. I accidentally killed him instead. I regret it, and I regret the pain I caused to the people who cared about him.”
Once again, his gaze locked with Jace’s. Jace shivered and scooted a little closer to Alec. The anger coming through his parabatai bond with Alec warred against the guilt from his parabatai bond with Sebastian. It was overwhelming for Jace.
“That was not a question,” Robert said, but his voice contained a note of grief, for Max. Jace felt the same grief thinking about the boy who had looked up to him as a big brother. He missed Max desperately and knew Sebastian had taken him away, but the raw guilt coming through Sebastian’s bond…
The trial continued. Robert asked questions of Sebastian, he answered them truthfully. “It’s not looking good for him,” Clary had murmured at one point.
“Unsurprisingly,” Jace murmured quietly.
After a long time, Jia said, “Everyone leave the council hall. We will need a few moments to concur and decide on Sebastian Morgenstern’s fate.”
The guards took hold of Sebastian once he handed the Mortal Sword back to Robert, and he was led away from the hall. Slowly, the other residents followed. Jace stayed still until he saw Sebastian disappear entirely from sight, then he followed Alec and Isabelle out, Clary standing close behind him.
The wait felt agonizingly long, but finally, they were called back to the council hall. Taking a deep breath, Jace entered and found his former seat. Jia called the hall to attention as Sebastian was led back in.
“We have decided Sebastian’s fate,” she called. “Under normal circumstances, we would have given him the death sentence, but-”
“The boy requested that his current lack of demon blood not be taken into consideration with your decision,” someone spoke up.
“And we have honored that,” Jia said. “It is not his lack of demon blood that led us to this, but rather,” her eyes sought out Jace, and he froze, “his parabatai bond, which should not exist.”
The room broke out into confused murmurs.
“Never before has one person had two parabatai, but Jace Herondale does,” she said. “We wish to find out more about this. So Sebastian Morgenstern will remain a prisoner of the New York Institute, where Jace resides. If he makes any more bad choices, however, the Council will be happy to reevaluate their decision.” She glared at those who seemed most unhappy with her decision, including Alec, who was seething with anger. “Dismissed.”
“What do you think about Jia’s decision?” Alec asked Jace once they were settled back in the infirmary. Jace would much prefer going back to his own room, but everyone was still worried about him after the lightning strike, so he finally agreed to stay for one more day.
“It’s… understandable,” he finally answered. “It’s true that I am the only person to ever have more than one parabatai, and they are going to want to see what effects that brings.”
“Dad was involved in the decision,” Alec muttered. “How could he allow this to happen?”
Jace gazed off at the ceiling. “Not sure. But what’s done is done.” He could feel through the bond that Sebastian also had mixed feelings about this decision. He was preparing to die, Jace knew. Suddenly being told he was going to live… Jace didn’t envy Sebastian right now. And besides, he’ll be stuck in a building full of enemies.
Alec was silent for a few moments. Finally, he said, “Look, Jace, there’s something I want to ask you. And when you were taken by Sebastian, I thought I’d never get to ask you this, and- well, I guess it isn’t that important, but I care too much about it, so-”
“Alec,” Jace cut him off. He smiled lightly. “What is it?”
“Will you go out with me?” Alec said quickly.
Jace froze and stared at him. Alec was already out of his seat and trying to back out of the room. “Sorry- if you don’t want to-”
“I do want to,” Jace cut him off again. A genuine smile spread across his face. “Yes, I’ll go out with you, Alec.”
Alec breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank the Angel,” he whispered. He came back to Jace’s side and clasped their hands together. He smiled back.
Sebastian had been moved to a new room. Maryse Lightwood had made the decision that, if he were to stay here, he couldn’t stay in the Sanctuary the entire time. Wards had been put up to prevent him from leaving the Institute, but no one had been put outside his room, much to his surprise. He’d have thought that Shadowhunters would think he’d try to murder everyone the first chance he got.
Not that he’d actually do that. He wasn’t interested in murder at the very moment.
Laying back on his bed, he closed his eyes, intending to go to sleep. The plan was soon ruined by a knock on the door. He looked at it curiously. “Who is it?”
Yet he didn’t have to ask, he realized. His parabatai bond knew exactly who it was.
“Jace,” the person outside his door said, confirming his suspicions.
Sighing lightly, Sebastian got up and walked over to the door. He opened it. “Jace Herondale,” he said. “I never expected to see you here.”
“I never expected it either,” Jace muttered. He forced his way into the room and shut the door behind him. “Look, I’m supposed to be in the infirmary, so you better be glad that I snuck off to visit you instead.”
Much to Sebastian’s surprise, that fact did make him glad, until he realized… “In the infirmary? Are you okay?”
Jace sighed. “Yes, they’re just overprotective. Look, we’re parabatai now, you know that.” Sebastian nodded. “Frankly, I’m not interested in being stuck with someone I think of as my enemy.” He sighed again. “So I’d like to get to know you as a friend.”
Sebastian stared at him. “Who are you and what have you done with Jace Herondale?”
“I’m still Jace,” he protested. “Just…” he sighed. “If you were the one who already had a parabatai and then got stuck with a second one… Maybe you’d understand.”
Sebastian’s lips quirked up. “I’ll think about it,” he said. “Becoming friends with you, I mean.”
Jace smiled lightly. “Alright. I’ll come back later, after you’ve had time to think.”
Sebastian stretched and got on the bed again. “Nothing else to do here anyway. Except sleep.”
“Then goodnight,” Jace said, starting to leave the room.
“Goodnight,” Sebastian called after him.
He wasn’t able to get any sleep. All night, his thoughts were stuck on Jace Herondale and his proposal to become friends.